k on his blanket. "If you get another show at it, Tom, make a sure
shot, so that you can tell us what it is."

You may be sure that I was glad to hear the old frontiersman talk in
this way. He had not seen the camel, but he had seen some scientific men
who had seen him, and he was glad to accept what they had to say in
regard to the Red Ghost. I, for one, resolved that I would never let it
get away, if I once got a shot at it.

The evening was passed in much the same way, with talks on various
subjects, and it was a late hour when we sought our blankets. We all
slept soundly, all except Tom, who awoke about midnight, and, to save
his life, could not go to sleep again. He rolled and tossed on his
blankets, and then, for fear that he might awaken some of us, concluded
that he would go out and look at the weather. He pulled on his
moccasons, opened the door, and went out, but on the threshold he
stopped, for every drop of blood in him seemed to rush back upon his
heart, leaving his face as pale as death itself. He was not frightened,
but there, within less than twenty-five yards of him, stood the Red
Ghost. He stood with his head forward, as if he were listening to some
sounds that came to him from the horses' quarters, which, you will
remember, were in the scrub-oaks behind the cabin. It was no wonder that
Tom was excited, for there it was as plain as daylight. It looked as big
as three or four horses.

"By George! I wish it would stay there just a minute longer. If I make
out to get my rifle----"

With a step that would not have awakened a cricket, Tom stepped back
into the cabin and laid hold of the first rifle he came to. It was not
his own; it was Uncle Ezra's Henry--a rifle that would shoot sixteen
times without being reloaded. With this in his hands he walked quietly
back, and there stood the object just as he had left it. It did not seem
to hear Tom at all. Fearful of being seen, Tom raised his gun with a
very slow and steady aim, and covered the spot just where he thought the
heart ought to be. One second he stood thus, but it was long enough for
Tom, who pressed the trigger.

"There!" said Tom, drawing a long breath. "If I didn't make a good shot
that time I never did. Hold on! It is coming right for me!"

The animal was fatally hurt, and the long bounds it made, and the shrill
screams it uttered, would have taxed Tom's nerves, if he had had any. To
throw out the empty shell and insert another one was slowl